


then one day all of a sudden, there was you

by dreamweavernyx



Series: the better ground (wakanda modern-day!AU) [6]
Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AND A LOT OF OTHER CUTE ANIMALS, Alternate Universe - Pet Store, BUT MOSTLY DOGS, Bad Puns, Dogs, F/M, Obliviousness, a Motley Crew, are steve and bucky dating?? are they just really good friends?? its Ambiguous and Thats Okay, disaster straights, obliviousness everywhere, some elements of chat!fic, vision/wanda if you squint real hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 11:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamweavernyx/pseuds/dreamweavernyx
Summary: W’Kabi stares at the poodle for a little longer. And then the notice. The poodle. The notice.The bell above the door tinkles as he pushes open the door. Somewhere, he can hear the faint sound of a hairdryer, and there’s a young man with a five o’clock shadow playing Bejeweled at the front desk who looks up as the door opens.“Hi,” he says, standing up. His nametag proclaims him to be “Scott”. “Welcome to Mission Pawsible. Can I help you?”W’Kabi stares for a moment. “Uh,” he says. “You’re looking for volunteers?”In which W'Kabi impulsively decides to volunteer at a pet store, and it turns out to be the best life decision he's ever made.





	then one day all of a sudden, there was you

**Author's Note:**

> Title/theme to this piece is ["You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FArhxzbTO-A) by A Great Big World.
> 
> Finally, after a good almost 4 months of sitting on this half-finished fic, I pulled myself together and wrote a good two-thirds of it in one sitting. Here is, at last, the W'Kabi/Okoye fic I've been talking about writing for the last 2/3 instalments of this series, ahaha. As it turns out, procrastinating your studying for the bar exams is an excellent motivation for writing fic.
> 
> This marks the last of the little stories in this modern life!verse I had planned, but I might write more in the future! Thank you so much for all the love on the previous fics in this series, they really mean a lot :')
> 
> Timeline-wise, this fic runs parallel to years 3-5 of _[take my hand](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14368728)_. Like the other fics in this series, though, this can easily be read as a standalone.
> 
> Beta-read, as always, by the gracious irrationaljasmine, who helped me betaread this less than 24 hours after getting off a plane. <3<3<3

It starts in his second year of college.

 

W’Kabi’s home for the summer, tired from his internship, and bored on a Saturday afternoon, when he walks past a shop called “Mission Pawsible”. It’s a good pun, and he’s just about to laugh to himself and continue his walk when he happens to look into the shop window.

 

That look, he maintains, changed his life. Because, you see, in the shop window was an adorable little brown poodle staring out at him. And above the poodle, taped to the glass of the window, was a sign: _Volunteers needed. Must love animals. Inquire inside._

 

W’Kabi stares at the poodle for a little longer. And then the notice. The poodle. The notice.

 

The bell above the door tinkles as he pushes open the door. Somewhere, he can hear the faint sound of a hairdryer, and there’s a young man with a five o’clock shadow playing Bejeweled at the front desk who looks up as the door opens.

 

“Hi,” he says, standing up. His nametag proclaims him to be “Scott”. “Welcome to Mission Pawsible. Can I help you?”

 

W’Kabi stares for a moment. “Uh,” he says. “You’re looking for volunteers?”

 

Scott brightens at that. “Yeah, we’re a little shorthanded. Hang tight, I’ll go get boss-lady, she’ll kill me if I handle this by myself.”

 

Scott disappears somewhere into the back of the…. shop? Shelter? (W’Kabi’s not entirely sure what this establishment is, but it’s got dogs, and that’s enough in his book.) W’Kabi’s totally intending to wait patiently for whoever it is to come and interview him, he really is, but he can still see the poodle from the window out of the corner of his eye and it (he? she?) is staring right at him, tail wagging.

 

W’Kabi resists, out of principle, for a good 5 seconds, and then gives in to temptation. He bends down to the dog and scritches it behind the ears, and it slobbers into his other hand. “Who’s a good boy?” he coos, grinning.

 

This goes on for a couple of minutes before W’Kabi realises he’s supposed to be meeting some lady for the volunteer position that he’d impulsively decided to take on. Petting the poodle’s head one last time, he stands up regretfully and turns around, only to startle at the sight of a woman leaning against the front desk, watching him with an amused smile playing at her lips.

 

“Uh,” he says awkwardly. “I can explain?”

 

“No need,” she smiles. “Are you the one who asked about our volunteer position?”

 

W’Kabi nods cautiously.

 

“W’Kabi,” he says, discreetly wiping his hand on his jeans before offering it to her. “Nice to meet you…?”

 

“Hope. Hope van Dyne.” She shakes his hand, and her gaze slides from him to the poodle and back. “And you clearly love animals, I see. That was really our only requirement for volunteers – welcome to the team.”

 

~

 

As it turns out, Hope is strangely cool with having a volunteer who only shows up on weekends, and who will be in California after the summer is over.

 

“You’re not the only college student we have volunteering here,” she tells W’Kabi while giving him a tour of the premises. “One of our groomers, Darcy, she goes to college up in Penn. But summer’s peak visitor season for us, anyway, so it works out.”

 

“Groomer?” asks W’Kabi. “Wait. What do you do here, exactly?”

 

It’s only after the words are out of his mouth that he realises that admitting he had applied for a position without knowing what it was for, in front of the person who’d _given_ him the position, was not the smartest thing to do. But Hope laughs, like she’d expected the question.

 

“We’re kind of like an animal shelter, salon, and pet café all rolled into one. We take in animals from high-kill shelters, give them a good grooming to look presentable, and then let visitors come in to interact with them for the price of a drink. We hope that by primping up the animals and letting our guests get up close and personal with them, they’ll be more inclined to adopt one home.”

 

That is a _wonderful_ idea that had never occurred to W’Kabi before. Hope laughs, and W’Kabi realises belatedly that he’s said that aloud.

 

“Thanks,” Hope says. “All of us work on a volunteer basis, and all the funds we make go towards the shop… but every time I see someone bring home their forever friend, it’s an incredibly fulfilling thing.”

 

They reach the back-room, where they find College Student Darcy, a tired-looking brunette in a baby-blue apron that reads _I’M FUR REAL_ and a pencil stuck through her messy bun. She’s tickling a tiny chinchilla as it rolls around in a dust bath, looking extremely absorbed.

 

“Hey, Darcy,” Hope says, startling the other girl and causing her to accidentally poke the chinchilla. “This is W’Kabi, he’s a college student who’ll be volunteering with us for the summer.”

 

Darcy perks up immediately.

 

“Hey man,” she says, sticking out a hand. “Darcy, UPenn, political science.”

 

“W’Kabi, UCLA, business.”

 

She studies him for a moment, then: “Dogs or cats?”

 

“Dogs,” says W’Kabi immediately. He pauses, and then adds, “well, cats are fine too, but _dogs_ , man.”

 

“Good enough,” she grins. “He’s a good one, boss-lady. Where’d you find him?”

 

“Believe it or not, I believe it was Mocha that pulled our newest recruit in. I found W’Kabi playing with him by the window.”

 

Darcy lights up. “I _knew_ putting him in the window was a great idea! Scott totally owes me ten bucks.”

 

Hope rolls her eyes but smiles, and W’Kabi begins to feel like this is a kind of work environment he can get behind.

 

~

 

He’s introduced to the other volunteers the next week. Scott, the receptionist, takes charge of the pet café side of things, and is Hope’s business partner in this venture. Jane, one of the other groomers and Darcy’s best friend, comes in with inkstains on her fingers and pens absentmindedly shoved behind her ears to wrangle the cats down for a good brush and ear-cleaning, fearlessly ignoring their indignant yowling and unsheathed claws.

 

Then there’s Clint, who comes in on Wednesdays and Sundays with his own seeing-eye dog, settles down in a corner of the play area with a box of treats, and pets every animal that comes within his reach. (Supposedly he’s some kind of animal whisperer – Darcy confides to W’Kabi that she’s seen even bulldogs and hissy cats go gentle around him.) He also, somehow, has impeccable aim – his favourite trick is to chuck a treat unerringly into the open, waiting mouth of his pet of choice. W’Kabi’s entertained the suspicion of black magic because seriously, _he_ can’t even aim his trash into the bin most of the time, let alone try doing it with his eyes closed. Clint either has some serious accuracy mojo or he’s trained the pets _really_ well.

 

There is also Vis, a computer technician by day who pops by for evening and weekend shifts. W’Kabi’s pretty sure “Vis” isn’t his full name, but nobody in the store knows what the full version is. W’Kabi consequently spends his first two weekends telling visitors that it’s short for “Elvis” and that he can do a killer moonwalk.

 

(The third weekend, Vis corners him in the break room and stares him down terrifyingly, before crumpling a photo of Elvis in his hand, slowly dropping it into the wastepaper basket, and walking away. W’Kabi never makes the Elvis joke again.

 

Darcy finds the whole thing hilarious, slips W’Kabi five bucks, and promptly decides to start sneakily moonwalking behind Vis every time he isn’t paying attention.)

 

Finally, there’s Hope, who sometimes seems like the tired mother of a bunch of rowdy teenage kids. She’s in charge of all the important papers and deadlines, makes sure everything is in order, and gives all mischievous animals the Stare of Silent Disappointment until they quiet down.

 

It’s a good bunch of people. W’Kabi, thrown by college and his inability to make lasting friends when the schedules keep shifting around, finds himself relaxing in the cosy atmosphere of the shop, laughing at inside jokes and gently scritching all sorts of animals.

 

~

 

Joining Mission Pawsible may have been a life-changing event, but it also leads to W’Kabi’s second life-changing encounter. This one starts on a summer day one year later – he’s out of school for the summer (again), even more tired, and pulls double shifts at the shop just for some stress relief.

 

She’s a tiny little black Labrador puppy, found one day by Scott, huddled in a cardboard box and abandoned in an alley near the store.

 

“W’Kabi,” Hope says, as she watches Darcy finish giving the new puppy a blow-dry. “She doesn’t look too old, but I think she’ll need some help socialising, and recognising basic commands. You’ve been with us for a while, and you haven’t taken the lead on any of our animals yet.”

 

She pauses, and it takes W’Kabi a good couple of seconds to realise she’s done talking.

 

“Wait- You’re asking me to take charge of her?”

 

“Why not?” Hope smiles. “You tend to come back during school breaks, and with everyone around it’s not like she’ll be short a primary caretaker. It’s a good opportunity.”

 

W’Kabi peers through the window again. At that moment, the tiny little puppy turns her head and meets his gaze, wide soulful brown eyes boring into his own. His heart melts a little, and he doesn’t realise as his lips quirk up into a soft smile.

 

“Sure,” he says after a while. “I’ll take her.”

 

He misses Hope’s knowing smile, his gaze still fixed on his new charge.

 

~

 

The puppy, as it turns out, is extremely rambunctious. Goodness knows why Hope was concerned about socialising – W’Kabi’s sure the puppy’s sniffed just about every dog butt in the shop, and a fair number of (scandalised) kitties’ butts as well.

 

She’s also got a strange habit of running and then forgetting to stop – he’s lost count of how many times she’s tumbled into the fence or tripped over toys on the floor, before scrambling up again and charging off in a different direction, undaunted.

 

“Slow down,” he says, laughing as he picks her up from the wreckage of her newest accident – a carefully-stacked pile of tennis balls in the corner. “Charging in like a rhino, aren’t you?”

 

The dog perks up at that and gives him a big, messy lick on his cheek.

 

“You like that, huh? You little rhino.”

 

More tail wagging. From a corner, Clint groans. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to name a dog _Rhino_.”

 

The dog – _Rhino_ – actually perks up and barks at that, and W’Kabi cackles as a spasm crosses Clint’s face. “Thanks, Clint,” he says. “Rhino and I think that’s a _wonderful_ idea.”

 

The name gets mixed reactions from the rest of the crew. Darcy, predictably, thinks it’s brilliant; Vis poorly hides a stare of bewilderment when he thinks W’Kabi isn’t looking, and Hope and Jane don’t really think it’s much of an issue as long as the dog likes it.

 

“I wanted to name her Cassie, after my baby daughter,” says Scott, as they watch Rhino go tumbling into another dog on Sunday. “But, well, I don't think even my daughter has that much energy.”

 

~

 

W’Kabi doesn’t spend all his time at the shop during the summer, although he’d love to. Between his shifts and his internship in the day, he also swings by T’Challa’s house to help his mother babysit (“Not _babysitting_ , W‘Kabi, I’m _eight_!”) Shuri, T’Challa’s younger sister.

 

This Saturday T’Challa’s out somewhere dramatically pretending he’s not into Nakia, his highschool classmate (W’Kabi thinks they should just _kiss already_ ), so W’Kabi’s in the house alone with Shuri, who’s watching cartoons.

 

Well, he’s not _technically_ alone – Miss Okoye, who is Shuri’s godmother, Auntie Ramonda’s old protégé, a brand-new senior associate with the Dora Milaje, and (most importantly) W’Kabi’s long-time crush, is currently buried in a sea of papers and highlighters at the dining table. But she’s entirely absorbed, so W’Kabi’s pretty sure she doesn’t count for the purposes of adult supervision of a precocious genius child.

 

“W‘Kabi,” Shuri says, as an old episode of Scooby-Doo plays on the TV screen. “ _Ubhuti_ says you work at a pet store now.”

 

He tweaks her nose. “Not a pet store, it’s more like a pet shelter. We take the pets that people throw away and we help give them better lives.”

 

Shuri wriggles around on the sofa.

 

“Does that mean you can _play_ with the animals all day? And they pay you for it?”

 

“Well, they don’t _pay_ me, but yes, I pretty much get to play with as many cats, dogs, and other animals as I want to.”

 

“Even _bunnies_?” There’s definitely a sparkle in Shuri’s eye now, and she’s bouncing in place, TV forgotten. Shuri loves all animals, but has a particular soft spot for bunnies at the moment, though W’Kabi’s not sure how long it’ll last.

 

“Even bunnies,” he confirms. “We’ve got two. It’s really great stress relief and super relaxing, you should ask your mom if you can come over sometime.”

 

Shuri wrinkles her nose. “You think I’m _stressed_?”

 

“Well, you’re certainly causing the teachers enough grief at school, I hear,” ribs W’Kabi good-naturedly. “Maybe if you tire yourself out at the shop you’ll give your teachers less stress.”

 

She’s pouting now, but W’Kabi’s confident that the promise of cute animals will probably be enough for her not to hold the chiding against him. He turns, and realises that Miss Okoye’s watching them with an absent smile, highlighter still held loosely in her right hand.

 

Before he can lose his nerve, he turns to her: “The invitation’s open to you, too. Come play at the shop someday, it really is good for stress relief.”

 

She blinks, and a small smile creases her lips. “I’ll consider it,” she says. “Perhaps after this case.”

 

~

 

Two Saturdays after that, W’Kabi comes in to work to find that Rhino has happily wrecked the sofa that sits next to the window of the café section in the shop. The plush – if dusty – black material of the sofa has been ripped by claws, white stuffing spilling out from the inside. W’Kabi feels a little like he’s just stepped into a strange murder scene, and the murderer is sitting right next to the corpse and wagging her tail happily, bits of cloth and stuffing still stuck to her claws.

 

“Rhino,” he says sternly. “No attacking the furniture.”

 

She perks up when she hears his voice, and runs over to poke at his hands for treats. “No treats,” he says, pushing her wet nose away. “No treats for bad girls who help place unnecessary expenses on the budget. We’ll need to get a new sofa, you know?”

 

Her tail wags once, then twice; she does not look contrite in the slightest. W’Kabi sighs.

 

“It’s okay,” Scott says from where he’s lying down with two cats curled up on his stomach and chest. “I’ve got a spare couch I can bring in.”

 

Darcy snorts loudly as Scott says this, and he grimaces. “ _Hope’s_ got a spare couch I can convince her to bring in,” he amends, sheepishly.

 

They hear the creaking of the gate to the café area, and turn to see someone stepping gingerly in. With a shock, W’Kabi realises it’s Miss Okoye, looking slightly awkward in her pantsuit (whether she dresses like this off work or she’s going back to the office after this, W’Kabi decides he doesn’t want to know) among so many tiny animals, clutching a baggie of the pet treats they sell so that more animals will come up to new visitors.

 

“Miss Okoye! Hi, welcome,” says W’Kabi brightly, waving. She laughs and starts to pick her way over.

 

“Hello, W’Kabi,” she says. “I hope you don’t mind me popping in. You did say it’s very good stress relief.”

 

Rhino, sensing a new arrival, shuffles over and boofs gently, catching Miss Okoye’s attention. She smiles, and reaches down to scratch Rhino on the head. “Oh, hello,” she says, in the tone of voice that adults usually reserve exclusively for animals, and children under the age of three. “Aren’t you beautiful? What’s your name?”

 

Rhino wags her tail. W’Kabi, grinning, raises a hand to cover his lips. In an awful falsetto (not on purpose, he’s just not good at imitating other voices), he says: “I’m Rhino!”

 

Miss Okoye smiles, laughs a little.

 

“Hello, Rhino,” she says, and W’Kabi is relieved she’s playing along. “Do you want a treat?”

 

She produces a couple of kibbles from the plastic bag she’s clutching, and Rhino’s eyes immediately light up, tail wagging from side to side like a possessed metronome. As Miss Okoye lowers her hand, Rhino licks up the kibbles in one swoop and barks happily.

 

“That was delicious!” says W’Kabi, still in his bad falsetto. “Thank you, pretty lady!”

 

He’s looking at the floor around where Rhino is standing because it feels a little shameless to compliment Miss Okoye while looking straight at her, and he’s already half regretting those words when Miss Okoye laughs a slightly startled laugh.

 

“Well, Rhino,” she says, “do you want to come sit with me in one of those cozy chairs?” She pulls out another kibble and waves it in front of Rhino’s nose, and Rhino immediately follows the kibble (and Miss Okoye) to one of the empty bean-bags strewn around the area.

 

As she goes, she shoots W’Kabi an indecipherable look over her shoulder, and he flushes. Behind him, Scott chuckles quietly and claps him on the shoulder.

 

“Smooth, Romeo.”

 

~

 

A week after that W’Kabi has to leave for college again, just as the leaves are starting to turn red and orange and gold. This time, he’s been added to the shop’s group chat, and they take pains to send him daily photos of Rhino and the other animals in the shop.

 

It’s also through the group chat that he finds out the café has gained a new loyal customer – two months in, his phone buzzes in the middle of his Advanced Financial Accounting lecture with a notification from the group chat.

 

_scottandsoda sent a photo to the group MISSION PAWSIBLE._

_scottandsoda: hey romeo guess who’s back again @wkawkaeheh_

 

_missdarcy: waIT HOLD UP W’KABI’S DATING HOT LAWYER LADY?_

_scottandsoda: not yet he’s not ;)_

 

W’Kabi snorts to himself and opens up the photograph. It’s a photo of Miss Okoye cuddled into Rhino (now nearing full adult size, she’s _massive_ ), a book held loosely in her hand and the other hand resting gently on Rhino’s head. Shifting so he’s hidden from view by the head of the tall guy sitting in front of him, he surreptitiously begins typing out a reply behind his laptop screen.

 

_wkawkaeheh: scott stop spreading shit, if you focused the same attention on your own love life maybe you’d actually get a date_

_wkawkaeheh: also don’t take photos of customers without their permission you creepy stalker_

 

He saves the photo to his phone anyway, adding it to the growing library of photographs he has of Rhino. At some point, he muses, he probably will need to put all the photos into a separate album.

 

Another notification comes in, and he sees the girl next to him frown hard as his phone buzzes. Seeing as the professor’s just reading word-for-word off the lecture slides, he doesn’t know why she’s concerned about him being a disturbance in class or whatever, so he ignores her in favour of pulling up the chat again.

 

_missdarcy: wow somebody call an ambulance for that SICK BURN_

_scottandsoda: bro that hurt me, real deep_

_wkawkaeheh: good._

_scottandsoda sent a video to the group MISSION PAWSIBLE._

_scottandsoda: i told juliet we’re texting you and to say hi_

_scottandsoda: is that enough permission for u sir_

 

This time it’s a shaky video (taken with the front camera) of Scott and Miss Okoye, awkwardly angled downwards so as to catch Rhino in frame as well. Miss Okoye is smiling and waving at the camera – his phone’s on mute, but she’s mouthing something that looks like “Hi”. (Hey, his lip reading skills aren’t particularly good, okay.)

 

He can’t help the small smile that curves his lips, and he quickly shuts the video before anyone else in lecture can witness him grinning like a doofus down at his phone.

 

~

 

Through a stroke of luck and some mad interview skills, W’Kabi manages to land a full-time post-college job just before winter break. He decides that this means he’s entitled to slack off a little, and buys last-minute tickets to return to New York.

 

He also informs the chat that he’ll be home for winter, which prompts an explosion of excitement. Apparently, Vis is away for winter break – he won’t say where, but Scott and Darcy’s current theory is that he’s visiting a secret girlfriend somewhere. Either way, it means that the shelter is one helper short, so even though his return was decided rather last-minute W’Kabi finds himself with a full roster of shifts at the shelter. (Not that he minds, of course.)

 

On the day of his first shift, he walks into the shelter and is almost immediately startled by a massive black projectile headed straight for his legs. He goes down with an _oof_ , and looks up dazedly to see the white ceiling, the top edge of some framed painting Hope has hanging at the reception desk, and a pair of large brown eyes peering down at him.

 

“Rhino,” he groans.

 

She barks at the sound of his voice, and he’s treated to a warm, wet tongue licking up the side of his face.

 

“No, Rhino,” he says. “Please don’t get drool on my scarf. I just washed this, you hear?”

 

Being a dog, Rhino does not at all comprehend what he’s saying, and merely looks at him and wags her tail. With her warm weight pressing down on his chest, W’Kabi’s left prone until suddenly, Rhino is pulled off of him.

 

“Welcome back, W’Kabi,” says Hope dryly, studying him with one hand gripping onto Rhino’s scruff. “This girl missed you too much, I believe. She was rather rambunctious while you were gone.”

 

W’Kabi laughs, getting to his feet and brushing his hands over his coat.

 

“It’s good to be back.”

 

~

 

It’s the second week of winter break, and W’Kabi’s staring at his closet in a blind panic.

 

Yesterday, Miss Okoye had dropped by to visit Shuri while he was helping Auntie Ramonda put up the Christmas tree, looking more relaxed than usual. Apparently, she’d just wrapped up a big case, and had celebrated by taking a couple of days of paid leave.

 

 _So that means you’ll have tomorrow off as well_ , he’d asked, to which she’d nodded. And then his big, traitorous mouth had decided to have an agenda of its own, and he’d blurted _do you want to, uh, maybe go get a coffee or something_ before his brain had caught up.

 

There’d been an embarrassingly long pause, in which he had hoped viciously for the floor to open up and let him sink down.

 

But she’d agreed. Somehow, she’d laughed and agreed, and _oh god he has a coffee date with Miss Okoye_. A beautiful, competent woman who’s got her life together, who _likes dogs_ , and who is probably way too out of his league. Which is why he’s been standing in front of his closet for the past half an hour trying to figure out what would make him look cool but not like he’s trying too hard to look cool.

 

Eventually, he decides on jeans and a sweater, and spends the next ten minutes trying to comb his hair neatly before realising he’s late.

 

He reaches the coffee shop 15 minutes after the agreed meeting time, panting from sprinting the last two blocks. Miss Okoye is already inside, reading a book, and she looks up and waves to him as the bell above the coffee shop door jingles.

 

“Sorry Miss Okoye, I missed the bus and the next one took a while,” he says, praying hard that she doesn’t see through the lie.

 

She laughs, and waves a hand to the free seat.

 

“You know,” she says, “you can drop the ‘Miss’.”

 

He laughs, somewhat nervously. “Force of habit. I’ll try.”

 

“Well,” she says, “I took the liberty of ordering my own coffee already, but why don’t you get a drink? Then you can tell me all about what’s new at the shelter. I haven’t dropped by for a good couple of months because of the case I was working on.”

 

That’s a safe conversation topic, and one W’Kabi is happy to talk about, so he quickly places his own order (iced cold brew and a lemon poppyseed muffin) and slides back into his seat.

 

Somewhere in between telling ~~Miss~~ Okoye about his new job, showing her all the photos of Rhino Scott’s been sending her, and two more large cups of peppermint tea, three hours fly by without his nerves getting in the way. W’Kabi doesn’t even notice the time until Okoye checks her phone, starts, and tells him she’s got to go.

 

“This was fun, though,” she says. “Maybe this weekend, if you’re free, we could do this again? I know a café that has good bagels.”

 

He agrees (of course), and waits until she’s left the coffee shop and is out of sight before he victoriously fist-pumps under the table, ignoring the strange look that the old man reading the newspaper one table over shoots at him.

 

~

 

She brings him to have the bagels on Saturday, and of course he has to return the favour, so he drops by during her lunch break one day with two steaming cups in hand (“Best hot chocolate in the _city_ , I promise”). Today, they’ve promised to try a little bar that apparently has really good pizza, so even though W’Kabi loves working at the shop he’s counting down the minutes until his shift ends.

 

One hour into his shift, a blonde, well-built man walks in and stops at the doorway, eyeing all the animals running around with a slight lost look.

 

“Hi,” says W’Kabi, getting up and walking over as Rhino follows on his heels. “Welcome to Mission Pawsible. How can I help you?”

 

“Hi,” says Handsome Blonde. “Uh, I’m looking to adopt an animal? Not for me, for my best friend.”

 

W’Kabi narrows his eyes at Handsome Blonde.

 

“Does your friend _know_ you’re getting him a pet?”

 

“Not exactly?” Handsome Blonde scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “Bucky’s mentioned wanting to get a pet, and I think it’ll be good for him to have a companion to keep him company – he’s going through a rough patch right now. And I know him well enough to tell what kind of animal he’ll get along with. But he doesn’t know that _I_ want to _get_ him a pet, no.”

 

W’Kabi eyes him some more, and then shrugs.

 

“Well,” he says. “Come right this way, then.”

 

Rhino boofs gently and nudges at Handsome Blonde’s knee, and he bends down to look solemnly at her.

 

“Hello there, beautiful girl,” he says gently, reaching out to pet her head. “What’s your name, huh?”

 

“That’s Rhino,” W’Kabi says. “Isn’t she lovely? We found her abandoned in an alley more than a year ago, but she’s since grown to become one of our friendliest dogs – even the cats will come and play with her from time to time.”

 

Handsome Blonde’s eyes soften.

 

“Do you have many rescue animals here?”

 

“They’re all rescue animals, sir,” says W’Kabi. “We take them in, give them a good grooming and a warm home, ready to find someone who will love them.”

 

“That,” Handsome Blonde says with a smile as he steps into the café area after W’Kabi, “sounds like something I can get behind.”

 

W’Kabi introduces Handsome Blonde to almost every animal currently in residence at Mission Pawsible in the next couple of hours, during which he watches the man melt into a puddle as he lies down and has two Bengal kittens crawl up and start kneading at his chest; play fetch for over half an hour with Gloria, a hyperactive golden retriever they’d taken in four months ago; and snuggle in a corner with Rhino, taking selfies and playing tug-of-war with her chew bone.

 

Finally, Handsome Blonde stands up regretfully, though he keeps one hand dangling down for Rhino to lick.

 

“I think I’ve decided,” he tells W’Kabi. “Is Rhino available for adoption? She’s sweet and gentle, and I think Bucky’ll love her.”

 

“Of course,” says W’Kabi. “All our animals in this shelter are up for adoption. If you come this way, I can get you the adoption paperwork.”

 

As Handsome Blonde ( _Steve Rogers_ , he signs on the forms) fills out the adoption paperwork, W’Kabi bends down to look Rhino in the eye for the last time. It’s somewhat bittersweet, since he’s watched her grow up in this shelter from a tiny puppy to a beautiful young dog. _This_ , he thinks, _is probably what parents feel like when they send their kids off to college._ (He also resolves to give his mum a big, long hug when he goes home.)

 

It’s a tad dramatic, but neither Scott nor Darcy are around to notice and mock him for it, so he hunkers down and gently scritches under her neck. “You be a good girl for Mister Steve, you hear?” he whispers to her, taking in her doggy-breath smell as she pants in his face. Her tail wags once, twice, and he grins.

 

“Uh,” says Steve, and W’Kabi looks up to see him eyeing the two of them with a measure of amusement. “…Are you sure this dog is available for adoption? There’s, uh, nobody else that would rather have her?”

 

Steve shoots W’Kabi a meaningful look as he says _nobody else_ , but W’Kabi doesn’t get it. As far as he knows, there haven’t really been any adoption requests for Rhino, nor customers who seemed to get along better with her than any other animal.

 

“…No,” he says, slowly. “Nobody.”

 

Steve eyes him some more, and then shrugs. “Alright then.”

 

Slipping the red-and-blue collar he’d bought from the rack they keep next to their front desk around Rhino’s neck, he scratches her behind the ears, and then clips a newly-bought leash to the collar.

 

“We’ll be going, then.”

 

Steve starts to leave, and Rhino looks supremely confused, darting from Steve (in whose direction the leash is gently tugging) to W’Kabi (standing awkwardly behind the desk). Eventually, she barks once in W’Kabi’s direction, and then turns to trot out of the shop at Steve’s heels.

 

~

 

_scottandsoda: hey why isn’t rhino in the store? did she run out or something_

_wkawkaeheh: no, she got adopted couple of days ago_

_scottandsoda: seriously??_

_scottandsoda: wait weren’t you on duty that day_

_scottandsoda: you let someone else adopt her while you watched????_

_wkawkaeheh: …yes?_

_wkawkaeeh: im allowed to process adoption forms right_

_missdarcy: OMG_

_missdarcy: W’KABI_

_missdarcy: YOU-_

_missdarcy: I CAN’T_

_Vis: I thought you were quite attached to that dog._

_missdarcy: ^^^_

_missdarcy: omg a wild vis appeared_

_missdarcy: HOW’S YOUR ROMANTIC GETAWAY VIS_

_wkawkaeheh: yeah i love rhino_

_wkawkaeheh: we had a dramatic farewell, i think it was a little awkward for the guy who adopted her_

_wkawkaeheh: i miss her_

_scottandsoda: dude_

_scottandsoda: you’re hopeless_

_wkawkaeheh: son it’s you who’s hope-less_

_wkawkaeheh: geddit_

_missdarcy: omfg_

_missdarcy: thank god hope’s not in this group chat_

_missdarcy: good one though w’kabi_

_Vis: Hello, Darcy._

_Vis: It is going quite well, thank you._

_Vis: We are quite enjoying ourselves._

_scottandsoda: WE’RE JUST FRIENDS, W’KABI_

_scottandsoda: NOT LIKE YOU AND JULIET_

_missdarcy: wait hold up DID VIS JUST AGREE THAT HE’S ON A ROMANTIC GETAWAY_

_missdarcy: VIS_

_missdarcy: WHO IS SHE_

_missdarcy: OR HE_

_missdarcy: OR THEY_

_scottandsoda: wait hold on we’re getting sidetracked_

_scottandsoda: we’re supposed to be talking about how w’kabi let rhino get adopted_

_missdarcy: omg yes_

_janefoster: Guys why do I have a million notifications from this groupchat_

_janefoster: Wait_

_janefoster: W’Kabi you let someone else adopt Rhino??_

_wkawkaeheh: why is everyone so shocked_

_wkawkaeheh: i mean i really miss her but i figured that was normal_

_wkawkaeheh: we raise so many animals here we can’t keep them all even though we’re attached to them right??_

_scottandsoda: WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA ADOPT HER, YOU IDIOT_

_scottandsoda: clint says you’ve been moping around the store_

_wkawkaeheh: how on EARTH would clint know that_

_scottandsoda: apparently your air of gloominess and loneliness is so strong that even a blind person could sense it_

_scottandsoda: when an animal gets adopted we do get sad but we don’t get THAT sad_

_scottandsoda: clearly you’re suffering because you’d already considered her your own deep down_

_scottandsoda: and now you’re just realising how important she was to you_

_missdarcy: EXACTLY_

_janefoster: We all thought you were holding off on officially adopting her until you got your own place or something_

_janefoster: We didn’t realise that you were just too blind to your own feelings to see that you wanted her_

_Vis: I concur._

_wkawkaeheh: …oh my god_

_wkawkaeheh: oh my GOD_

_missdarcy: son’s having an epiphany_

_missdarcy: also VIS DON’T PRETEND YOU DIDN’T JUST LET SOMETHING JUICY SLIP_

_missdarcy: I SEE YOU_

_wkawkaeheh: oh my god guys_

_wkawkaeheh: you’re right_

_wkawkaeheh: what do i do now???_

 

~

 

What W’Kabi does is look up Steve Rogers’ contact number from the adoption paperwork file, and dial. Steve picks up on the third ring.

 

“Hi,” says W’Kabi. “Mr Rogers? This is W’Kabi, from Mission Pawsible…”

 

“Steve, please. Are you the one who helped us process Rhino’s paperwork?”

 

“Yes, uh, about that…” W’Kabi trails off. “Er, there might have been a mistake.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah. Uh. She…might not have been up for adoption?”

 

Steve laughs, the sound tinny over the phone. “You realised you wanted to adopt her, didn’t you? I saw it in your eyes that day, that’s why I tried to confirm if it was really okay for me to adopt her. You didn’t seem to be considering adoption, though, which is why I took her in the end.”

 

W’Kabi groans. “How did _everyone_ figure that out before I did?”

 

“Well,” Steve says. “I told Bucky the whole story of Rhino’s adoption, and he agreed that we should send her back. She’s been a little quieter at our place – I think she misses you too.”

 

“Really?” W’Kabi feels relief like a heady tidal wave wash over him.

 

“Yeah. We were actually just talking about calling in and asking if we could perhaps switch out Rhino for another dog. I had my eye on Gloria as well, I think she’d be as perfect for Bucky as Rhino seems to be for you.”

 

“That,” W’Kabi stops, swallows. “That would be _great_.”

 

A couple of hours later, Steve walks into the shop, Rhino trotting his heels and another man trailing behind him, longish brown hair tied in a messy ponytail. The moment Rhino catches sight of W’Kabi standing at the desk, her tail begins to wag furiously and she surges towards him, all but yanking the leash out of Steve’s hand in her excitement.

 

“Hey girl,” W’Kabi says softly as she plants her paws on his chest, tongue out. “I missed you too.”

 

The other man laughs, and as W’Kabi looks away from Rhino he puts out his hand. “James,” he says. “Guess it's you this girl’s been pining after, eh?”

 

“Yeah,” says W’Kabi, smiling as Steve unbuckles the collar from Rhino. “I just figured it out a bit too late.”

 

~

 

“So,” he tells Okoye at brunch a couple of days later. “I had an epiphany this week.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah. I realised how much a certain beautiful girl had become part of my life without me noticing, and I finally decided to make it official!”

 

Okoye looks like she’s smiling a little, but it’s covered by the hand in front of her face. There’s also an air of anticipation around her for some reason – W’Kabi figures that maybe he’s a great storyteller and is fantastic at building up suspense.

 

“I’m adopting Rhino!” he announces, with all the flair of a circus master announcing his next act. “She moved in with me yesterday.”

 

Okoye’s shoulders sag infinitesimally – if W’Kabi wasn’t looking directly at her as he spoke, he would have missed it. But she says: “About time! Guess I won’t be able to visit her any more at the shelter, though.”

 

“Wait,” says W’Kabi, “clearly this wasn’t what you were expecting. What _were_ you expecting?”

 

Okoye shrugs.

 

“I didn’t know what to expect,” she says. “It’s just that you never showed any sign of wanting to adopt Rhino before, so I was taken by surprise.”

 

W’Kabi squints at her for a moment, assessing.

 

“That’s not it,” he says. “You were definitely expecting me to say something else.”

 

Under his stare, Okoye falters for a moment, and then draws herself upright, shoulders back, looking for a moment as though she’s preparing herself to speak in the courtroom.

 

“I,” she says quietly, “rather thought you were referring to another girl who might’ve recently become a big part of your life.”

 

“…Who?”

 

She gives him a _Look_.

 

“A girl who might have become a big part of your life,” she says, a little stiffly, “as you have become a big part of mine.”

 

It takes him another few more seconds before it hits him, like a lightning bolt from a blue sky.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“OH.”

 

She snorts, looking at him with a mix of amusement, and…trepidation?

 

“You’re,” he begins, then stops, coughs. “I’m a big part of your life?” he asks in a small voice.

 

“You are,” says Okoye. “You helped me find a way to de-stress from work through the shelter. And I rather look forward to these food adventures we’ve been having.”

 

“ _Oh my god._ I didn’t even know you were _into_ me!”

 

He regrets that the moment it’s out of his mouth, but somehow it seems like it was the right thing to say, because Okoye’s shoulders relax a little and she laughs.

 

“I guess there was… more than one girl who became a part of your life without you noticing?”

 

“I’m so _embarrassed_ ,” W’Kabi says, words muffled as he buries his head in his hands. “How did I not notice this. I’ve been _blind_ , oh my god-”

 

“Well,” Okoye cuts in, amused. “You can make it up to me, if you’d like.”

 

“Oh my god, yes, anything.”

 

“Go out with me.”

 

W’Kabi chokes. He must be mishearing things, he thinks. He pinches himself, hard.

 

“Say that again.”

 

Okoye acquiesces, looking way too entertained by this. “Go out with me,” she says. “Bring me on more food adventures. Let me come over to play with Rhino sometime.”

 

“Are you- Are you asking me to be your _boyfriend_ ,” he squeaks.

 

She lifts an eyebrow, a look that manages to say both _yes, duh_ and _get with the programme_.

 

“HE SAYS YES,” yells a voice from two tables over, and W’Kabi looks up with a start, only to see Scott and Darcy sitting there in terrible disguises and giving him two thumbs up – Scott’s got a fake moustache that’s already half falling off his face, and Darcy’s wearing a baseball cap and fake glasses. Next to them is Jane, her head in her hands. The worst part is, W’Kabi has no idea how long they’ve been sitting there.

 

“Oh god,” he says again, sinking down in his chair like that’ll help him escape the stares of half the coffee shop, as Okoye laughs again.

 

“Is that a yes?”

 

“You bet it’s a yes,” he says. “As our first date, I propose killing my _very nosy co-workers_ , who have no business stalking me or interfering in my personal life.”

 

He says the last bit loudly, turning a glare on Scott and Darcy, whose eyes widen as they get up from their chairs and flee. Jane leaves at a more sedate pace, picking up Darcy’s half-finished takeaway cup of iced coffee as she walks out of the shop, throwing a wink over her shoulder at W’Kabi.

 

“Shall we?” he asks Okoye, who looks like she’s fighting a grin as she watches the spectacle.

 

She takes his hand, and he wonders how he hadn’t noticed before how she’d wormed her way into his heart, how he hadn’t noticed when she went from an untouchable person he’d had a crush on to a three-dimensional one who he knew, really _knew_ , and cherished; when now all he wants is to be able to have her warm hand in his for the rest of his life.

 

“We shall.”

 

 

 

_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> xhosa translations:  
> ubhuti = older brother
> 
> I must say this is probably the least research-heavy of all my fics - I spent most of my time instead having good fun writing the cracky characters of this motley crew. This fic began in my mind as the Elvis scene (where they're guessing Vis' name), and also the very last scene of the fic.
> 
> The concept of Mission Pawsible as a pet store/pet salon/pet cafe was partially inspired by a [cat cafe](https://www.facebook.com/catssafari/) I went to recently which takes in a whole bunch of rescue cats, and the dog store/salon that was recently featured in [one of the Try Guys' videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgqcU5TuEjo), where stray dogs are rescued off the street and given a good grooming in hopes of giving them better chances at adoption.
> 
> ADOPT, DON'T SHOP Y'ALL. But if you're adopting for someone else please make sure they're okay with having an animal companion first, like W'Kabi did re: Steve here! The last thing you want is to get a lovely cat/dog/etc for your friend, only to find out that they dont have the time, resources, or capabilities to be a responsible pet owner at the moment.
> 
> Re: Rhino's growth. You will notice that in this fic she becomes huge really quickly. Labradors grow up really fast and are at [almost their full adult height within their first year](https://www.labradortraininghq.com/labrador-puppies/stages-of-puppy-development-week-by-week/); thereafter, they begin to fill out.
> 
> There are some things about this 'verse that I headcanon-ed when writing this fic, but wasn't able to squeeze in - maybe they'll make an appearance in any future instalments!  
> \- The chat app they're using is something of a cross between LINE and Telegram. Hope isn't in the chat because she's one of those Whatsapp-or-nothing folks. Vis, while in the group chat, is like a rare unicorn, only popping up to reply on the chat once in a long while.  
> \- I did drop small references to it throughout the fic, but the Clint in this verse is blind!Clint, but with some seriously mysterious ninja mojo. I really hope I did his small cameo role justice.  
> \- Darcy, W'Kabi, Scott, and (initially reluctantly) Hope play D&D together, usually at Hope's house but sometimes on Skype when Darcy/W'Kabi are away at college. Scott is the enthusiastic DM who isn't very good at doing NPCs' voices; Hope is the rules nazi and plays an acerbic druid who favours turning into flying animals; Darcy plays a klutzy bard who casts spells through her magical bagpipe (and knows _exactly_ how annoying the rest of the party finds it); and W'Kabi is a tired paladin. Sometimes Jane joins in on their sessions as a mad scientist-style wizard. They're...... not very good at physical combat, lmao. Scott punishes them for this from time to time by throwing magic-resistant monsters at them.  
>  \- In my head Vis is basically just [Damien from Dream Daddy](http://dreamdaddy.wikia.com/wiki/Damien_Bloodmarch), minus the goth aesthetic: nerdy tech dude by day, [sweet pet shelter volunteer by night](https://dreamdaddygame.tumblr.com/post/164465992555/riotfuel-and-i-volunteer-at-this-animal?is_related_post=1#notes). He's dating Wanda but keeping it super on the downlow, since in this 'verse she's an Instagram-famous model and he doesn't want to tangle with the drama that goes with making their relationship public.  
> \- Bucky has a prosthetic left arm.  
> \- Scott is a single dad, with a young daughter named Cassie. He's got a huge crush on Hope, and thinks he's very discreet about it. (Spoiler: he totally isn't.)  
> \- Darcy is oddly good at grooming the pets in the store to bring out their best selves, for someone with very little formal training in pet grooming. On some days if the staff bring in a particularly bedraggled animal, it's almost like Queer Eye (the animal version) in the grooming room.


End file.
